Debra Frances "Camryn" Manheim (born March 8, 1961) is an American actress known for her roles as attorney Ellenor Frutt on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's ''

The Practice ''The Practice'' is an American legal drama television series created by David E. Kelley centering on partners and associates at a Boston law firm. The show ran for eight seasons on ABC, from March 4, 1997, to May 16, 2004. It won an Emmy in ...

'',

Delia Banks The following are fictional characters from the television drama '' Ghost Whisperer'' created by John Gray. Main characters Melinda Gordon Melinda Gordon, played by Jennifer Love Hewitt, is the protagonist of '' Ghost Whisperer ''. Melind ...

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

's '' Ghost Whisperer'', Gladys Presley in the 2005 miniseries ''

Elvis Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

'', and "Control" on '' Person of Interest''. In 1999, Manheim won the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. In early Primetime Emmy Award ceremonies, the supporting categories were not always genre-, or even gender-, specific. Begin ...

for her work on ''The Practice''. Since 2022, she has been part of the main cast of the revival of ''Law & Order''.

Early life

Manheim was born in

West Caldwell, New Jersey West Caldwell is a township located in the West Essex area in northwestern Essex County, New Jersey, United States. It is located approximately west of Manhattan and northwest of Newark. As of the 2010 United States census, the township's po ...

into a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family, the daughter of Sylvia (née Nuchow), a teacher, and Jerome Manheim, a mathematics professor and the Dean of Letters and Science at

California State University Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...

. Her family relocated several times in her early childhood due to her father taking new teaching positions, and she spent her early years in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

and

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...

. When she was in sixth grade, her family relocated to

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

, settling in

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, where she attended

Woodrow Wilson Classical High School Woodrow Wilson High School (colloquially known as Long Beach Wilson) is an American public high school located in Long Beach, California. This two-block campus is located approximately 1.5 miles from the Pacific Ocean, across from the Recreation ...

. She became interested in acting after working at a

Renaissance faire A Renaissance fair, Renaissance faire or Renaissance festival is an outdoor gathering open to the public and typically commercial in nature, which purportedly recreates a historical setting for the amusement of its guests. Some are permanent the ...

during high school. Manheim graduated from

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California syste ...

with a BFA degree in 1984 and

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

's Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Acting Program with an MFA degree in 1987. Her brother, Karl Manheim, is a law professor at

Loyola Law School Loyola Law School is the law school of Loyola Marymount University, a private Catholic university in Los Angeles, California. Loyola was established in 1920. Academics Degrees offered include the Juris Doctor (JD); Master of Science in Legal ...

Career

Manheim worked for a while as a

sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign l ...

interpreter at hospitals. Her knowledge of sign language was used on ''The Practice'', in an episode of ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering on ...

'', and in her role as a child behavioral psychologist in the movie ''

Mercury Rising ''Mercury Rising'' is a 1998 American action thriller film starring Bruce Willis and Alec Baldwin. Directed by Harold Becker, the movie is based on Ryne Douglas Pearson's 1996 novel originally published as ''Simple Simon'', which was the worki ...

''. In 1983, she made a brief appearance as a girl in an elevator in '' Sudden Impact'' in the post-courtroom scene at the beginning. Manheim's breakthrough was her one-woman show "Wake Up, I'm Fat", which played off-Broadway at

Classic Stage Company Classic Stage Company, or CSC, is a classical Off-Broadway theater. Founded in 1967, Classic Stage Company is one of Off-Broadway's oldest theaters. Its 199-seat theatre is the former Abbey Theatre located at 136 East 13th Street between Third a ...

in 1994. She adapted the show into a book of the same name, which was published by

Broadway Books Broadway Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a Division of Random House, Inc., released its first list in Fall, 1996. Broadway was founded in 1995 as a unit of Bantam Doubleday Dell a unit of Bertelsmann. Bertelsmann acquired Rand ...

in 1999. In 1999, Manheim collected an Emmy for her work on ''

''. In 1999, she was awarded the Women in Film Lucy Award. In 2005, Manheim earned Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for her work in the miniseries ''

'', and the following year she joined the cast of '' Ghost Whisperer''. Her other television credits include '' Chicago Hope'', '' Ally McBeal'', ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...

'', ''

Will & Grace ''Will & Grace'' is an American television sitcom created by Max Mutchnick and David Kohan. Set in New York City, the show focuses on the friendship between best friends Will Truman ( Eric McCormack), a gay lawyer, and Grace Adler ( Debra Messi ...

'', ''

Boston Public ''Boston Public'' is an American drama television series created by David E. Kelley and broadcast on Fox. Set in Boston, the series centers on Winslow High School, a fictional public high school in the Boston Public Schools district. It feature ...

'', ''

Two and a Half Men ''Two and a Half Men'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS for twelve seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. Originally starring Charlie Sheen in the lead role alongside Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones, t ...

'', ''

The L Word ''The L Word'' is a television drama that aired on Showtime from January 18, 2004 to March 8, 2009. The series follows the lives of a group of lesbian and bisexual women who live in West Hollywood, California. The premise originated with Ilene ...

'', '' How I Met Your Mother'' and ''

Hannah Montana ''Hannah Montana'' is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March2006 and January2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus), a ...

''. She also voiced Juliet in the episode "Company Picnic" of ''

Dilbert ''Dilbert'' is an American comic strip written and illustrated by Scott Adams, first published on April 16, 1989. It is known for its satirical office humor about a white-collar, micromanaged office with engineer Dilbert as the title charact ...

'' on

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...

in 2000. In addition, Manheim has several film credits. These include ''

Romy and Michele's High School Reunion ''Romy and Michele's High School Reunion'' is a 1997 American comedy film directed by David Mirkin and starring Mira Sorvino, Lisa Kudrow, and Janeane Garofalo. The plot revolves around two 28-year-old girls who appear to have not achieved much s ...

'', ''

Happiness Happiness, in the context of Mental health, mental or emotional states, is positive or Pleasure, pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Other forms include life satisfaction, well-being, subjective well-being, flourishin ...

'' (which earned the cast a National Board of Review Award for Best Acting by an Ensemble), ''

The Laramie Project ''The Laramie Project'' is a 2000 play by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project (specifically, Leigh Fondakowski, writer-director; Stephen Belber, Greg Pierotti, Barbara Pitts, Stephen Wangh, Amanda Gronich, Sara Lambert, ...

'', ''

Scary Movie 3 ''Scary Movie 3'' is a 2003 American parody film which parodies the horror, sci-fi, and mystery genres. It is the sequel to '' Scary Movie 2'' and is the third film in the ''Scary Movie'' film series, and the first to be directed by David Zuck ...

'', ''

Dark Water Dark Water may refer to: Books * '' Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil'', 1920 book by American philosopher W.E.B. Du Bois * ''Dark Water'' (book) (仄暗い水の底から; ''Honogurai mizu no soko kara''; literally ''In the Depths of Dark ...

'' and ''

An Unfinished Life ''An Unfinished Life'' is a 2005 American drama film directed by Lasse Hallström, and based on the Mark Spragg novel of the same name. The film stars Robert Redford, Jennifer Lopez, and Morgan Freeman. It is the story of a gruff Wyoming rancher ...

''. In 2015, Manheim was in the Deaf West production of the musical '' Spring Awakening'' as Adult Women. The production, which had a cast composed half of hearing actors and half of deaf or hard-of-hearing actors, paired every deaf actor (who signed their lines in

American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual lang ...

) with a hearing actor who said their lines verbally. Manheim voiced for

Marlee Matlin Marlee Beth Matlin (born August 24, 1965) is an American actress, author, and activist. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for a ...

as well as signing her own dialogue in the parts of Frau Bergmann, Fräulein Großebüstenhalter, and Fräulein Knuppeldick. In August 2019, she was elected secretary-treasurer of the SAG-AFTRA union. Manheim was elected to the secretary-treasurer position with 16,047 votes. Candidates Jodi Long, Chuck Slavin and Rob Stats received 10,251, 2,204 and 1,790 votes respectively. She did not run for reelection in 2021, and was succeeded by

Joely Fisher Joely Fisher ( /ˈdʒoʊˌli/ born October 29, 1967) is an American actress and singer, the daughter of singer Eddie Fisher and actress Connie Stevens, and half-sister of actress Carrie Fisher. Her breakthrough came in 1994, starring as Paige Cl ...

Personal life

Manheim's son Milo Jacob Manheim was born on March 6, 2001. Manheim has been involved with the Los Angeles-based charity Bet Tzedek Legal Services – The House of Justice, serving as a co-chair for their annual fundraiser,

the Justice Ball ---- The Justice Ball is an annual fundraiser for the Los Angeles based Charitable organization, charity, Bet Tzedek Legal Services - The House of Justice. All net proceeds from the event directly benefit Bet Tzedek. Since its inception in 1996, T ...

.Bet Tzedek Raises $300,000 With Its Sixth Annual Justice Ball
Retrieved January 29, 2016.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Manheim, Camryn 1961 births Living people 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Long Beach, California Actresses from New Jersey American feminists American film actresses Jewish American actresses American television actresses American voice actresses Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe (television) winners Feminist artists Jewish feminists LGBT rights activists from the United States Tisch School of the Arts alumni University of California, Santa Cruz alumni People from Caldwell, New Jersey Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners Wilson Classical High School alumni